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Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur in association with the Harvard Business School Club of India successfully organized the first Inclusive India Forum 2014 at IIM Udaipur campus on 26th July, 2014.

The event was attended by stalwarts from corporate and social sectors. Prominent delegates included 12 Harvard Business School Alumni, 23 Corporate Social Responsibility Heads from various companies and 44 Founders & Senior Functionaries from NGOs from across India. Inclusive India Forum is the first event of its kind organized in India, where different stakeholders from corporate organizations and NGOs shared one platform to discuss ways in which partnerships can be created in the development management space for the larger benefit of society.

The event began with a welcome address by Prof. Janat Shah – Director, IIM Udaipur. Dr. Shah mentioned the need to focus on the development in the region. He specified the deep commitment of IIM Udaipur to work towards this agenda citing many initiatives like the Center for Development Management, partnerships with local corporates and NGOs like Hindustan Zinc, Secure Meters, Seva Mandir, Arth and Aajeevika Bureau among others. His speech concluded with the purpose of the event to devise an action plan through the collaboration and discussions with the delegates and to make dependable friends who will join IIMU in working towards the inclusive growth of India.

The keynote address for the event was delivered by Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Vice Chairman & CEO, Zensar Technologies and Chairman of the 2000 member strong NASSCOM foundation. He talked about his initiative which aims at making at least one member of every Indian family digitally literate, so that the access to technology and the corresponding awareness can help them avail the development initiatives. He emphasized that the vision of HBS Club of India should be contributing in the field of social causes and not that of a mere business beneficiary body.

The participation of the delegates for the day began with first panel discussion on “The Corporate World on the Social Sector” which was moderated by Dr. Ganesh Natarajan. The panelists Prof. Janat Shah, Mr. S. Ravichandran – Cummins India, Ms. Neera Nundy – Dasra and Mr. Sanjaya Singhal – Secure Meters spoke largely on the topic and the audience participation brought in key pointers like lack of need-gap analysis of planning/scalability skills in NGOs, absence of CSR initiatives taken by companies in non-industrialized regions of India, strategic alignment with corporate organizations and executional challenges of incorporating CSR values in corporations.

Second panel discussion on the theme “Development Management Sector in India: What works and what does not?” was moderated by Mr. Anshul Arora, CEO – Edvance Group and saw Mr. Aditya Nataraj – Piramal Foundation, Mr. Ajay Mehta – Seva Mandir, Ms. Rita Soni – NASSCOM, Mr. Anoop Kaul – Basix, Ms. Uma Ganesh and Mr. Jayant Sahastrabuddhe discussing on existing as well as future possible partnerships between civil society, NGOs and corporates. The challenges like experimental flexibility in schemes such as NREGA by the government, importance of knowledge creation and knowledge asymmetry were discussed. The common opinion which emerged was that educational institutions should focus on making social leaders, and bring about capacity and capabilities building along with partnering with local industries to work towards nation building. The message of ‘CSR as a fundamental duty of everyone’ was emphasized by the panel.

The panel discussions were followed with brainstorming sessions wherein delegates segregated into three focus groups to discuss on current and possible future initiatives in Livelihood, Healthcare and Education sectors. The mutual discussions between corporate, CSR representatives and social sector heads in common teams brought perspectives on formulating roadmaps to give directions for future collaboration on social projects. The implementation challenges at the grass root level and the deep understanding of the bottom of the pyramid brought in by the NGOs helped in developing of a complete functional roadmap.

The event saw enthusiastic response and the participants were enthralled with a cultural program in the evening with highlights of traditions of Rajasthan. The delegates also had interactions with the student community of IIMU and partake a Heritage walk and NGO visit on 27th July, 2014.

Indian Institute of Management Udaipur strives to build a workforce of student managers imbibed with the beliefs of social responsibility, inclusiveness and the potential of collective growth, who can go on to create social and economic values for the society. This initiative organized by Prayatna – The Social Responsibility Club of IIM Udaipur represents the true pride and insignia of IIMU and is a key milestone achieved in this direction. IRIS – The Photography Club of IIM Udaipur helped in clicking the pictures of the event.

Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur in association with the Harvard Business School Club of India will host the first Inclusive India Forum on 26th July, 2014 at IIM Udaipur campus.

Inclusive India Forum will be attended by stalwarts from corporate and social sectors. Confirmed delegates include 25 Harvard Business School Alumni, 25 Corporate Social Responsibility Heads from various companies and Founders& Senior Functionaries of 40 NGOs from across India. Inclusive India Forum would be the first event of its kind organized in India, where different stakeholders from corporate organizations and NGOs would gather on one platform and discuss ways in which partnerships can be created in the development management space for the larger benefit of society.

Janat Shah, Director – IIM Udaipur, faculty and students of IIMU will welcome all the delegates in the event. The event will flag off by a Keynote address to be delivered by Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Vice Chairman & CEO, Zensar Technologies.

Indicative list of the prominent corporate personalities who will be attending the event comprises:

Adil Zainulbhai, Senior Advisor & former Chairman – McKinsey India

Padmashree Rajinder Gupta, Founder & Chairman – Trident Group

Vikram Mehta, Chairman – Brookings India

Jyotsna Bhatnagar, Head CSR – British Petroleum India

Mohini Daljeet Singh, CEO – Max India Foundation

C-Suite Executives from some of the big firms across the country including Brookings India, Dr. Reddy Foundation, BP India, DLF, Vodafone, Piramal Foundation, Forbes Marshall, Genpact, Vedanta, Hindustan Zinc, Max India Foundation, ITC, MacArthur Foundation, NASSCOM Foundation, Secure, Shell Foundation and Harvard Business School alumni would unite together to deliberate on how the skills and resources from Corporate world can align with the Social services sector to develop synergies across various projects in the social space in the coming years.

Indicative list of prominent personalities from NGO space who would be participating in the forum comprises:

Ashwin A. Shah, Founder – Gram Sewa Trust

Rajiv Khandelwal, Founder & Chairperson – Aajeevika Bureau

Binoy Acharya, Founder & Director – UNNATI

Girish Sohoni, President & Managing Trustee, BAIF Development Research Foundation

Mini Bedi, Asia Director of International Association for Community Development – Director Development Support Team (DST)

The first panel discussion on “The Corporate World on the Social Sector” would be moderated by Dr. Ganesh Natarajan. This would be followed by second panel discussion on the theme “Development Management Sector in India: What works and what does not?” moderated by Mr. Anshul Arora, CEO – Edvance Group. The panel discussions will be followed by brainstorming sessions wherein delegates would be segregated into three focus groups and would discuss on current and possible future initiatives in Livelihood, Healthcare and Education sectors. One of the key anticipated outcomes of the forum is a roadmap which will give directions and indicators for working in a collaborative way on social projects in future, which would lead to inclusive growth in India in the long run.

The Udaipur community has shown keen enthusiasm and interest in this event. A Press Conference was conducted on 23rd July in IIM Udaipur campus as a pre-cursor for this event in which around 30 local press and media partners came to cover the event. Zucchini Italian Cuisine Restaurant of Udaipur has associated with the forum as the Food Partner.

IIM Udaipur through various initiatives in the past has shown a deep commitment towards developing socially responsible managers and actively contributes in societal development. This programme in collaboration with the HBS Club of India is another major step taken by the institute in the same direction.

Great educational institutions have faculties and academics as their biggest assets. The most important element which plays a critical role in IIM Udaipur’s objective of imparting quality education is the faculty team at the institute. The selection process of faculty at IIMU is designed to consistently attract the best of the teaching and research talents from the PhD programmes of India and abroad. While putting together the faculty team, the practitioners and academicians are tested for excellent potential in their respective domains. Prominent faculties from the top B-Schools of India like IIMA, IIMB, IIMC etc. also visit to bolster the academic wealth of IIMU.

IIM Udaipur has over 22 permanent and over 30 visiting core faculties contributing to a faculty to student ratio of 1:5.5. This ensures personalized attention to the students resulting in their better learning, grooming and hence forth, transformation. The number of research and working papers published in the journals across the globe within just three years on inception reflect that some of the best management research work is carried out in the IIMU campus.

The faculty incorporates best pedagogical means and practices comparable to those followed in the best B-Schools of world in the development of students. The craft of teaching and the methodologies of deliveries are complemented by the well-equipped infrastructure of the institute and technologies like research tools, digital library platforms, latest journals and Bloomberg Financial analysis & research lab.

The current faculty force includes professors, researchers and consultants with significant experiences in the field of teaching. Senior industry professionals also join the permanent faculty for lecturing the students about their business acumen. Intellectual entrepreneurs who have created enterprises executing business strategies blending with ideas also contribute in the learning process of students in sync with another pillar of the institute, entrepreneurship. The academic curriculum of the institute is overseen by Prof. Jahar Saha, Former Director – IIM Ahmedabad. The visiting faculty of IIMU has prominent names on the likes of Prof. Jagdeep S. Chokkar, Former Dean – IIM Ahmedabad and Co-Founder of Association of Democratic Rights Foundation (ADR) which recently bagged the IBN and NDTV Indian of the Year Awards. Other pioneers in their own rights of different management domains like Prof. Ramesh Bhat(IIMA), Prof. L. S. Murthy(IIMB), Prof. Sunil Unny Guptan (IIMA) and Prof. Janat Shah, Director – IIMU join the list of faculties teaching at the institute.

Each faculty of the institute is aligned to the goals, vision and values of the institute and dedicatedly prepares the students for responsible positions they would take up in various management roles. All faculty members are always approachable and their guidance and support is available to students and alumni even outside the classrooms for tutorials, live projects, internships, placements preparation, job guidance and clubs & committees events. IIMU possesses the potential of best teaching minds and has a long term aim to become the hub of management research in the country.

Alumni And Allies Association (A4) of IIM Udaipur organized the first ever alumni meet of the Class of 2013of IIMU, FlashBack. The meet was organized on 1st March, 2014 in the campus. Flashback was organized with the motive of creating a feeling of déjà vu for the pioneers and to initiate a process of building an ever growing network of IIMU graduates. The meet had been organized as a day-long event so as to enable maximum interaction among the pioneers and the students within the IIMU fraternity.

FlashBack started with an interactive session between the alumni and Prof. Janat Shah, Director – IIMU. The theme for the session was The Journey bygone & The Journey ahead. The pioneers shared their experiences after stepping out of IIMU and their takeaways from their 2 years of stay here. Emotions flowed through the voices of the pioneers reflecting their proclivity towards the institute. Later, Director Sir discussed with them the progress of IIMU in comparison to the Top 100 B-Schools across the world in the last one year. He shared with them the future plans and working model on which IIMU would thrive to become one of the best B-Schools in the world. The pioneers actively gave their suggestions and add-ons for improving the plans. Prof. Shah re-enforced the importance of enhancing the alumni network and took suggestions from the pioneers on ways of enhancing the alumni engagement.

Post the session, Team A4 in association with LakeSiders – The Sports Committee of IIMU, organized a cricket match between IIMU Alumni and the IIMU community team formed from the participants comprising students, faculty and the hostel & institute staff. The idea behind the debut version of FlashBack Cup was to form a legacy which would go on for years to come. The feeling of involvement with the students who had been the first to grace the campus received applauds and cheers. Moments were re-lived and a legacy was created. IIMU Alumni team lost the trophy by a close margin but won everybody’s hearts with their sheer dedication and enthusiasm.

Curiosity amongst current students to know about the corporate life after graduation from IIM U opened the stage for the interactive session of PGP-1 and PGPX students with the alumni. Director Sir and faculty also took out their time to attend the session and felicitate the alumni with souvenirs for their successful journey. It was an ice breaking session where the alums narrated their memorable moments at IIMU, shared their experiences of the corporate world and revisited the work undertaken by them as founders of various clubs and committees.

The evening saw an exclusive dinner for the alumni organized at Lal Baagh restaurant amidst live music and a picturesque setting. The event also witnessed release of the pioneer issue of the Alumni Magazine, “The Thump” which garnered rave reviews from the alumni. The alums were deeply engrossed in nostalgia all the while as they chatted and laughed about their good old days at IIMU.

The dinner was followed by a DJ party for the alums. The ‘unique’ thing about the party was that this was the first moment in the history of IIMU when the alumni, PGP1s, PGP2s, PGPX1s and PGPX2s; all were seen sharing the same stage. The party ended on a high note with cheers and celebrations in the air. A4 Team put up an amazing example of conducting an event showcasing team work, the best use of limited resources and involving and paying gratitude to all the students, staff, faculty and alumni of IIMU. IRIS – The Photography Club of IIM Udaipur helped in capturing the magical moments of the reunion.